25 November is the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women (EVAW) and once again, Santos and the Santos Foundation have demonstrated ongoing commitment to end all forms of violence against women and girls by leading the annual Bel isi PNG organised EVAW walk in Port Moresby.
In a show of solidarity were Bel isi PNG key donors, implementing partners and subscribing organisations who took part in the walk including the Australian High Commission, Steamships, Bank South Pacific, Femili PNG, Business Coalition for Women,G4S, National Capital District Commission, Brian Bell Group, ExxonMobil PNG, TotalEnergies, Kina Bank, Air Niugini, Nambawan Super, United Nations, Westpac, DT Global, Transport Sector Support Program, Australia Awards, World Bank, Buk bilong Pikinini, Easy Skill and PNGFM Limited.
The community walk was co-led by Santos Country Chair PNG, Leon Buskens, Santos Foundation CEO Jodie Hatherly, National Capital District Governor and Chair of the Permanent Parliamentary Committee on Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment Hon. Powes Parkop, Australian Acting High Commissioner to PNG Dr Joanne Loundes and Managing Director for Steamships and the new Chair of Bel isi PNG Rupert Bray.
Safe at home. Safe at work is the theme for the event which was attended by nearly 400 individuals.
In a call to action, Jodie Hatherly said: “Santos and the Santos Foundation are committed to supporting the work to end violence against women and girls everywhere that we operate. That is here in PNG, Australia, Timor-Leste, and Alaska. All of our countries are living with this problem and so we must collectively be part of the response. So, I stand here today with the private sector, government, nongovernment, and all of our partners to say we will be part of that vehicle for change. I also encourage everyone to be part of that change as well.”
As part of the support we give to Provincial Health Authorities, Santos Foundation helped leverage $6.065 million from donors in 2022 to increase Family and Sexual Violence (FSV) services, improve health outcomes and infrastructure. We supported the expansion of Family Support Centres (FSCs) into remote districts and ensure hospitals and other health services are responding to the needs of FSV survivors.
